Oakland has lost to 2 good teams it's played and beat up on bad defenses. They have a great offense and a terribad defense.

I don't think the offense can carry them to a division title

Looks to me like both of our defenses are doing a good job with takeaways and giving our offenses decent field position. Siemian has done fine, consider his lack of experience and the issues at OL.

Denver has given up an average of 9.33 points in the 2nd half of games this year, a mere FG difference from KC. And, most of that is in the 3rd as the defense is giving up a very low 2.75 points in the 4th quarters.

Again, we're kinda pissing in the wind here, both teams are looking good and neither is really that much more lucky or better than the other right now. It's all about the defense, which is why it could create issues for OAK.

So the 6-2 Broncos miss the playoffs entirely?

I can't imagine he was serious... granted, it was posted before the Chargers' loss, but I believe he was just doing that on purpose. Denver's been 6-0 and missed, it happens, but I don't see it happening this year unless the OL furter craters and they miss a few key players due to injury.

6-2 and with the remaining 8:
@ Raiders, @ Saints, Chiefs, @ Jaguars, @ Titans, Patriots, @ Chiefs, Raiders

They can easily win 3-4 of those games and hit 10 wins. I think that's about where I slotted them prior to the season starting, 9-10 wins.

5 of the remaining 8 on the road - should make up for all those whining about the schedule earlier.

And, talk about scheduling... the Raiders don't play on the road again until December 8th, I believe.

Hmm. That schedule is pretty tough outside of JAX and TEN..

It'll be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

The only "easy" games are Jags and Titans...Saints are good at home.

@ Raiders, @ Saints, Chiefs, @ Jaguars, @ Titans, Patriots, @ Chiefs, Raiders

True, but those bold games should be winnable and @ Saints is winnable. I'm not giving up their chance of winning any of those games with this defense. But, 4-4 wouldn't shock me at all.

I originally had Denver at 5-3 through 8 games.

I also had them going 4-4 during this stretch, so they can definitely best my projection of 9-7 with 10 wins.

How did you feel about that holding call on Bosa that was picked up....or the safety where the ref kicked the flag out of the endzone.

Refs keep that up...Donkos could go 8-0

In an odd twist, could Daniel Sorensen actually be a difference maker against the Pats?

His performance as the Nickel LB has been exceptional. You can't run the dime against them because their 2 TE sets will destroy you. If you try to run much base against them, BB picks you apart. But if you can run a Nickel set with a guy that's willing to get dirty but can also hold his own in space, you're a step ahead of the game.

Gaines, Parker, Berry, Nelson and Peters in the defensive backfield with DJ and Sorensen at LBs gives you a nice set of coverage guys that should be able to hold their own in space. You could run something of a 3-3-5 with Houston being a wildcard (that Falcon role) and they'd struggle quite a bit with it, IMO.

You're not going to get to Brady without collapsing the middle so Ford and Hali just aren't going to be the answer against that team. So don't make them try. Go with the 3-3-5 with versatile LBs and powerful interior lineman and you might just throw them off.

Maybe. I'd worry that they'd just throw Blount at that front about 20 times but that may be a trade off you've gotta take.

Sorensen has been a machine though. NOT only is he good at what he's doing, it allows berry to play more in the secondary.

The defense has been nice this year, and they're doing it against top qbs and good offenses.

I missed some of the game because of my son's Scout meeting... so I can't speak to the Bosa item. I think the flag in the endzone was boderline, but could have seen it go either way.

I'm guessing there were no calls in favor of the Chargers that shouldn't have happened, right?

They're one bad lap dance away from losing two or three starters in a gunfight.

That's why Sorensen's willingness to put his nose in a pile is so important. He'd still be undersized but when you have 3 space-fillers like Howard, Poe and Jones as your down lineman, they can neutralize that a bit to keep guards from getting into Sorensen's body. Then it's just a matter of gap responsibility and will - is he going to be where he's supposed to be and is he willing to stand in and deliver a blow to a powerful RB. I think the answer is yes.

If they want to try to beat us with Blount, they're welcome to give it a shot. Honestly, I'd be more worried about a healthy Lewis coming back and trying to attack Sorensen's lateral agility.

You know, it wouldn't be a bad idea in that it'd be taking the ball out of Brady's hands more.

But yeah, Lewis in sorensen in those little angle routes could be interesting, but the dude is more athletic than were crediting here.

Yeah, probably. Wouldn't be a surprise.

In 2011, the AFC North sent both wild card teams to the playoffs in addition to their division winner

In 2013, the AFC West sent both wild card teams to the playoffs in addition to their division winner

In 2014, the AFC North again sent both wild card teams to the playoffs in addition to their division winner.

And now the AFC West may send both wild card teams to the playoffs in addition to their division winner.

What do these divisions have in common? EACH time they were matched against the entire, mostly completely pathetic, AFC South based on the NFL's schedule rotation system.